Weeds: The Story of Outlaw Plants

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This spear grass grows in clumps of narrow-bladed leaves that grow close to the ground on pathways or lawns. It’s an annual weed that reproduces via seeds, which emerge from its small, white flowers. Notes: Yellow Salsify’s grey-green leaves make it highly distinctive. It produces yellow flowers which turn into fuzzy seedheads. It typically grows in fields and may not flower for up to 10 years. 57. Shepherd’s Purse Notes: This perennial plant’s flowers sport a similar appearance to the Cornflower. You can find this plant growing in arable land and grassy meadows. Anni fa partecipai a una uscita per la raccolta di piante selvatiche a fini mangerecci. Ricordo soprattutto che la nostra guida disse che oltre l'ottanta per cento delle erbe che togliamo dall'orto sono non solo commestibili, ma persino più nutrienti del radicchio che coltiviamo.

Notes: This sports the characteristic clover appearance but with red-pink blooms. Red Clover favours grassy habitats. This plant removes salt from arable land, making it the perfect companion plant for crops that were previously unable to grow in those areas. 42. Velvetleaf This perennial weed can get up to 2 metres and it looks fairly good. It has blue flowers, shaped like tiny bells that usually bloom in late spring or early summer.Notes: This plant gains its name from its unique triangle-shaped flat fruit. It’s a common garden weed. You know those old white men (OWMs) that are convinced they're experts on everything, regardless of whether or not they actually know shit? Yeah, that's pretty much Richard Mabey.

Grassy weeds or sedges that are really hard to eliminate from your lawn, usually requiring complete lawn renovation.

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This plant was first described over 250 years ago by the famous Swedish botanist Carl Linnaeus. Sweat bees are solely responsible for pollinating this plant. 28. Broadleaf Plantain There is another way to classify weeds, depending on all these categories above. This will help you further identify the weeds in your garden and start making a plan to control them.

And I am a member of the Society for Ethnobotany, The Herb Society, Botanical Society of Britain and Ireland and a founding member of the Association of Foragers. The way of the foragerThe plant is poisonous when eaten in large quantities but edible in small amounts. It has the distinctive flavour of apple peel and lemon. 26. Canadian Fleabane Another common weed in the UK, the Creeping Cinquefoil spreads on lawns and turfs alike, especially those that are poorly maintained. This isn’t a tall weed, it can only get to 2 cm in height. Its yellow flowers are visible from early summer to mid-autumn, and its leaves are made from five segments with jagged edges. A perennial vine, Bindweed grows in large vines, with roots that spread up to 10 metres. It’s commonly found in Europe as well as North America, and can easily be distinguished through its heart-shaped leaves and white or light pink flowers, which get to about 2.5 cm wide. Weeds, weeds, everywhere. We just can’t escape them. They’re destroying our lawns and springing up in the gaps in our patios. We know they’re unwanted, but we often can’t identify the exact plant species. The main thing that anyone needs to know is that human acts create weeds. Disturbed lands, especially those that have had their existing ecology disturbed as well as the earth itself, are the most inviting for both native opportunists and non-native invaders. And our efforts to eradicate them simply encourage them to find ways to survive... for example low-lying dandelions in lawns. It's an arms race, just like the one between bacteria and antibiotics.

Notes: The Orange Jewelweed gained half of its name from its bright orange blooms that extend up high into the sky. The second half, Jewelweed, is believed to have been given as the leaves appear silver and sparkly underwater. The Overstory by Richard Powers is a highly unusual novel about trees, their relationships to each other and the world, and a set of people drawn together around a shared love and sense of protection for America’s ancient giant redwood forest. It makes you look at trees and woodland with new eyes, and wonder what messages the trees are sending each other through scents in the air and root chemicals, and that can’t be a bad thing as the sap rises and the first fuzz of green tips appear in our own woodland. The Birds-foot trefoil grows in huge patches and has a deep root system. It spreads via underground stems like rhizomes or above-the-ground stems like stolons. Shepherd’s Purse has been used in cooking throughout history, particularly in China, where it’s frequently cooked in stir-fries and rice cakes. 58. Poison Sumac Grassy weeds are a common type of weed, also known as monocots. This means that a grass seed will sprout as one leaf. They have round and hollow stems, with nodes, while the leaves are long, with parallel veins.

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Notes: Grows alongside roads, hedges, and waste areas. Its leaves are typically green but turn red when its pink flowers appear. This is a tall perennial weed that resembles a bamboo. Its flowers are whitish and tasselled, while its fleshy stems have pink shades. It’s strong thanks to its invasive roots that help it spread.